Port Elizabeth Test, Day 1, Close
Friday, November 16, 2001

Herschelle Gibbs showed signs of becoming a modern-day great batsman today at Port Elizabeth. He attacks with prowess, but he also has the ability to get big hundreds. He already has an unbeaten double-century and a 147 to his credit and his innings today shows a special talent.

Most great batsmen are entertaining players with the ability to draw the crowds, and Gibbs is no exception. People come to the ground just to watch him bat.

Of the four wickets that fell to the fast bowlers, three of them were to balls of fuller length. Indian coach John Wright will have to drill into his team the virtue of bowling such a length. Ajit Agarkar did try that towards the end of the final session, and Javagal Srinath managed it off and on, but it was not enough. The ball of fuller length has to be their stock ball to keep the batsmen on their toes.

This is something the Indian fast bowlers can learn from the Pakistani new-ball bowlers, who strive to keep the ball up and invite the batsmen to drive. The Indians have consistently failed in this respect, especially against teams like South Africa.

Harbhajan Singh will have to learn that when the conditions are not in his favour he has to do something different to get his wickets. And one of the things he could do is use the crease more judiciously. He could get nearer the stumps and create an angle that would be more profitable bowling to a right-hander. That's an option he should start working on. Using the crease may not be necessary on good tracks, but on wickets that are not so friendly to him, it could make a huge difference.

It continues to puzzle me that in an entire day's play, Sourav Ganguly could not bring on a bowler like Sachin Tendulkar for even one over.

But Ganguly cannot have too many complaints as his bowlers bowled as well as they could. They will have to get rid of Gibbs quickly and then bat really well. But much will depend on how the South African seamers use the wicket.

Sanjay Manjrekar, mainstay of the Indian batting in the late '80s and early '90s, was talking to H Natarajan. Session by Session returns on Sunday.

More Sanjay Manjrekar
Good pressure from Harbhajan
Srinath hits the spot

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